Nic Nac Nappywrap

I love a good  story.  I know, most people do – that’s why reality TV has become so popular, because the viewer gets to hear real stories about real people, and as the series progresses, get to know more about the stories behind the contestants. The only reality TV show I’m hooked on (but alas, it’s just finished!) is My Kitchen Rules.  I love cooking, and I love being in the kitchen with my daughter (9), and so we often talk about how we could be the first mother-daughter team (9 and 38!) to take part … In reality, I could never handle the stress!  I definitely don’t like to cook with the stopwatch ticking away loudly beside me.

The stories behind some of our nic-nac products and the products we’ve sourced for our webstore are pretty unique and some are fascinating.  Some are totally inspiring, but that's a blog post for another day ... 

Take for example, our newest product – the ratbag beanie.  The gorgeous Northern Rivers gal who makes those, is someone I met through a friend, around 20 years ago.  Her name is Zix, and she has two gorgeous girls, and now lives in Lismore, NSW, having moved north from Sydney – seeking out the lifestyle change so many of us come here for.  It was only a few months ago that we re-connected, and I’m so happy to have Zix and her gorgeous ratbag beanies on board.   The friend we have in common lives in Christchurch, NZ, and of course, we all know how many people have been devastated by the repeated earthquakes there.

The 2^nd story is about Christchurch again.  This time it’s Mocka, who are the distributors of the teepees and tree hangers that we stock.  They’re a Christchurch based family business, and after being devastated by the earthquakes, they packed up and came to Australia – the land of opportunity – to start up Mocka Australia.  They still have the majority of their family members running Mocka NZ, and their NZ company has a HUGE array of fantastic products, but Mocka Australia has had huge success since their launch, and we’re proud to be supporting fellow kiwis in their endeavours. 

What about what’s behind the teepees?  Well, three years ago I was working on my first pattern for a teepee, there are a lot of patterns around, but I wanted one with an easily removable floor, a window for ventailation, wooden poles, and of course – be machine-washable, which is a pre-requisite with all nic-nac products.  Washable means PRACTICAL!

A year on, and we were still tinkering with the teepee pattern … There are so many gorgeous teepees on the market, my personal favourite being the girlie girl floral teepee that we sell … but I really wanted to do a denim one with poppy dot trim!  However, after buying a Mocka one for my daughter (blue and white stripes – she’s not a girlie girl floral kind of girl!) I realised these ones were EVERYTHING I wanted in a teepee and more … Sturdy, extremely well made, they had a detachable floor, easy to assemble, easy to cart around, perfect at the beach, a window for airflow, big enough to fit a few kids, in actual fact … perfect!  So, we bought a few wholesale, and haven’t looked back.  Why try to re-invent the wheel? 

The Contigo drink bottles … now, that’s a line of products that when offered to me, I just couldn’t pass up!  Two years ago when I started doing The Mummy Tree markets in Brisbane, I met a gorgeous gal called Christie, who had a business “Much more than scraps” selling the Contigo range of drink bottles and travel mugs.  I bought one for me and one for my trusty side kick market helper (Clover – my daughter!) and it was love at first gulp.  They are undoubtedly the best, easiest, most practical drink bottle I have ever had.  The next market (some 8 weeks later) I bought a couple to give as gifts, the next market, a couple more!  It soon became my “go to” gift for any age person, birthday, Christmas, whatever!  And what’s more – everyone loved them!  So last December (2011) when Christie got in touch to let me know she was moving to the States, and asked “you’ve always been one of our best customer – you love these bottles – do you want to buy the business?” I jumped off my office chair in excitement, and said “yes please!” with no hesitation.  Since December, we’ve sold so many drink bottles and travel mugs it’s hard to keep up with the ordering!  I think we sell as many Contigo products as we do our own nic-nac products. 

I think that’s the key … don’t just stock products because they look pretty, are cheap, or are easy to source, but find a product that you love so much, that you want to give them to everyone!  

So, the collection of goodies on www.nic-nac.com.au is practical, extremely good quality, funky, sometimes quirky, but always AWESOME!  And everyone of those products has a story behind it … more to come on that!

♥ Kylie ♥

I have long been a lover of interesting names.  I have been naming dolls, teddy bears, pets and my little brother for over 30 years now ...

Officially, when my brother entered the world, my parents named him Damian.  But that would not do for a 2 and a half year-old, desperate for a sister!  So Carmen he became, and Carmen he stayed, (except on days he was Jacinta) until my mother said it was time to stop dressing him up as a girl and he WASN'T my little sister!

When I was very little, I favoured names like Emma, Louise and Justin.  As I grew older I preferred to make names up - my favourite teddy was Jameana Bateara.  Luckily by the time we had our daughter, I had moved on (slightly) and was giving some thought to what our child might be happy to be named later on in life.  Choosing a name for our child was extremely challenging.  My husband and I couldn't agree on anything.  Luckily, he had the foresight to suggest that if she were a girl, I'd choose, and if he were a boy, he'd choose.  I say luckily, because I knew from the moment our little peanut started growing inside me, that she was of the pink variety. And sure enough - she was!  However, on her arrival, the three finalists on my list didn't suit her at all (and she'll thank me for that one day!) ... they were; Lotus, Lollie and Cynamon.  12 hours after she was born, in my morphine-induced state, I was tearfully on the phone to my mother in New Zealand, panicking that my 12-hour-old baby didn't have a name.  

As she was born on St Patrick's Day mum suggested an Irish name ... my husband was cheering for Guiness, my mum suggested Patricia, and finally when she said "how about Clover?" Richard and I both ecstatically AGREED and Clover she is!

It's a wonderful name - not only is a clover my favourite colour, but also it's really fun having a name that is SOMETHING.  

We've had clover themed birthday parties, she writes her name with a clover symbol, people buy her dolls or books that have clover's in them ... and I get excited about clover fabrics!  

When she's older, if she chooses to enter the corporate world and isn't happy with Clover, she can easily make it Chloe!  But Clover isn't as unusual as some might think - it's actually been around as long as Pearl and Ruby ...  And funnily enough, we live in an area called Clover Hill – and yes, she does think the area was named after her!  

My husband, had we had a boy, would have named him Ash.  Not Ashley, Ashton or Asher.  Just Ash.  My mother in law was HORRIFIED when we told her that was to be his name if he was of the blue variety.  “WHAT?!  Like, as in ASHTRAY?” she worried.  But no, not ashtray – but Ash, as in the ash family of rainforest trees (not surprising as my husband is a horticulturalist). 

His name is Richard (my husband) which is such a STRONG and masculine name.  My name is Kylie.  That was a pretty cool name growing up, as I’m sure I was the only Kylie in the whole of New Zealand.  Likewise when I lived in the UK – there weren’t any around there either.  But on moving to Sydney when I was 24, what a shock to find a Kylie/Kylee/Khylee around every street corner!   Incidentally, Kylie means boomerang.  It was a great support to my loving parents, the meaning of my name when I was an extremely challenging teenager, as they always kept faith that no matter how difficult the stage I was going through, the lovely (if I say so myself!)  Kylie would always come back.  And indeed I did come back.  And there are times I fear my sweet Clover might morph into a horror of a teenager ... and I imagine my parents might watch from afar and chuckle, sitting pretty in the knowledge that karma exists!

My nieces are; Zia, Honey Belle, Francesca, Ruby, Emma and Sophie.  My nephews are Freddie and Louis.  What a lovely mix of names we have!  My sister is Yasmiin, which is the Estonian (her father’s heritage) version of Jasmine.  Having watched others struggle over not just the pronunciation of her name, but also the spelling, I decided long before we had Clover, that our child/ren would have to have names that were easily spelt and pronounced! 

Recently, amongst our friends, there has been a big influx of babies.  Maverick, Zakai, Sam, Grace, Violet Bessie, Coco, George, Harry and Minty.  A lovely mix of the more traditional and the new.    We have friends who have called all four daughters names beginning with M.  Mabel, Maggie, Maisie and Mary.  I love it!

If I’d have been able to have a son, I’d have liked to have named him Ziggy or Oberon.  Richard was most unimpressed with those options.  Oberon is King of the fairies (which didn’t appeal to him) and Ziggy was because I’d have a lovely dog named Ziggy in my late teens and 20s. 

I regularly post on facebook asking nic-nac likers what weird and wonderful names they’ve come across …. Undoubtedly my favourites which  have been reported are A-a and La-a.  Do you get it?  Adasha and Ladasha … Didn’t know it was legal – but there you go, some originality and bravery!

Moving on, here’s a list, courtesy of this website which is a great resource for many things baby related, www.babycenter.com.au/ of the top 20 baby names for Australians in 2011.  I wonder what 2012 will bring?

 Kylie xo